


Pizza shaped love

by Lyrancon



Series: Promaretober 2020 [2]
Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Comedy, Day 17: pizza, Falling In Love, Fluff, Galo is perceptive, Humor, Lio has mood swings, Love Confessions, M/M, Pizza, idiots to lovers, no beta we die like men, promaretober, promaretober2020, they are both idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:02:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27215359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrancon/pseuds/Lyrancon
Summary: Lio loves Galo and Galo loves Lio but they don't know what to do about it.Both are insecure idiots who end up getting the same idea to ask the other out.They say love goes through the stomach? Right? So what better way than to ask your crush out with a pizza!
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Series: Promaretober 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952557
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40





	Pizza shaped love

**Author's Note:**

> A short piece written for Promaretober 2020 day 17 prompt: Pizza  
> It's way late because I needed some time to stew on the idea before finally writing it down but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  
> I wasn't supposed to ever get this long, but here we are so I hope you will enjoy reading it ^0^  
> And please, don't take it very seriously because I certainly didn't do that while writing it.

It was a day like any other, nothing out of the ordinary was going on at the FDPP station 3, at least, that is what it looked like on the outside. On the inside however, all hell was about to break loose. 

***

After months of fruitless pining and wistful dreaming Galo had come a very simple realization. He was absolutely head over heels in love with Lio Fotia and if he didn't do something with these feelings anywhere right around now, he might well just burst into fire and explode. That being said, Galo wasn't entirely sure how to approach the entire situation. 

Lio, as sweet as the man can be, is as emotionally stable as the coastal weather. That is to say, his moods are very much not predictable at all. Galo noticed over the time that they have been spending together, that it's hard to pinpoint exactly what causes the mood swings in the smaller man but he has been paying close attention to what makes him happy more than anything else when they do happen. Part of him is worried that maybe he has been misreading the entire situation, that maybe Lio doesn’t like him the same way after all. Galo knows that he can be quite a handful to deal with himself as well. He’s brash and loud, enthusiastic and all over the place, which is so very unlike Lio. More often than not the other will chastise him for leaving his clothes all over the living room or shout after him that he is being a stupid idiot again. He knows he is an idiot, he tries to make a joke out of it all the time but somewhere deep inside he is so very afraid that it might be the one thing that will eventually push Lio away from him. 

Galo tries not to dwell on these thoughts and worries for too long whenever they pop up their ugly little heads though. They share a home, cuddle on the couch during movie nights and Lio smiles the most when Galo is around. He may think that Galo doesn’t notice but he is a lot more observant than what people tend to give him credit for. He sometimes catches him hiding a smile, whenever Galo is making an effort to be a better housemate by cleaning up his mess or using his inside voice in the mornings. By now it probably is Galo’s favourite activity; to try and make Lio smile. He wants to see that beautiful face light up with a gentle upturn of soft lips and even more than that, he so desperately wants to be the one to put that expression on his face. Even when, in the end, Lio doesn’t love him in the same way as Galo loves him, he will do whatever he can to always make Lio smile like that. 

There was so much about Lio that he had come to love. The smaller man was resolute and determined, he had a heart that bled for his people and he knew that Lio would sooner die than leave and of the Burnish to fend for themselves. No matter how much Lio might try to deny it himself, Galo knew that deep inside he longed for peace and quiet, he longed for a happiness that he felt he didn’t deserve. Galo was never the one to push other people into uncomfortable places but he held the silent hope that one day he would find a way to show the man he held so close to his own heart, exactly how much he really meant to him. He knows full well how much Lio struggles with his own emotions but he was willing to bear it all, if it meant that he could make him happy. Perhaps it was because they at some point were melded into one being, spent these moments connected together inside each other’s head and heart, but he felt like he understood Lio better than anyone else in the whole world, maybe even better than he understood himself.

There is no doubt about it. Galo fell for him like a metaphorical brick soon after they burned the world together. Almost like a literal brick at some point too, when he was carrying a few boxes with engine parts towards the workshop. Lio had caught his eyes and smiled at him, his entire face lighting up like the sun and Galo had, embarrassingly, lost his balance for a moment and nearly tripped over his own feet. By sheer force of will and some impressively improvised dance moves, he had kept himself upright and quickly bolted into the workshop, hoping that no one would notice how red his face had gotten. In the distance he heard the soft sound of Lio’s laughter and he felt his heart sing in his chest. 

And so, Galo had come to a conclusion. It wasn’t a surprising one but it was certainly daunting nonetheless. He is going to confess his feelings to Lio, he knows he has to because much to his embarrassment he is afraid of waiting too long. There are so many people who adore Lio, who look at him with eyes that show how clear they long for him. Whenever Galo catches someone looking at Lio like that he feels an unreasonable amount of frustration rise in the pit of his stomach and he wants nothing more than to grab the smaller man and run off with him, hide him from the world so that he can selfishly keep him all to himself. He has to tell Lio how he feels because he knows that sooner rather than later his, admittedly already feeble, self restraint might snap when he catches another one of those longing stares and he actually might just pick Lio up and run for the hills with him. 

He reaches for his phone and opens the chat app, adding only two contacts to a new group chat and sends out a short message. 

_ “Hey Gueira! Hey Meis! I know it’s probs kinda weird to ask since we’ve been hanging out together for a while already, BUT! Can you two tell me what Lio’s favourite Pizza toppings are?”  _

***

What has he ever done to deserve this? Lio quietly muses to himself as he sees Galo bustle about the kitchen. It is his turn to cook dinner and he has clearly taken it in stride again, chopping vegetables with the same vigor and enthusiasm that he has while fighting fires, the same as when he is saving cats from trees. What has he ever done to deserve this kind of domestic happiness? He used to be labelled a terrorist and most people had feared him in the same way as they would fear any other violent criminal. He was reviled by anyone who was not aware of the Burnish plight, considered nothing but absolute scum. Yet, here he is. Watching the man he is secretly so very in love with, cook spaghetti with enough passion and excitement to rival the sun itself. Galo is like a force of nature, bustling with life and energy, tackling everything he does with loud and boisterous enthusiasm. He was always cheerful and happy to help anyone in need and secretly, that made Lio feel a little bit jealous. Sometimes, he selfishly wants to keep all those bright smiles all to himself, hide them away from the world so no one else will get to steal them away from him. Galo is too good for this world and most people out there don’t deserve him, Lio thinks quietly to himself. Then, Galo looks over his shoulder and grins at him, his expression so open and cheerful that it makes Lio’s heart thrum a merry beat in his chest. He manages to keep his face straight though, always in control of himself no matter the circumstances. 

‘Dinner is ready, you coming?’ 

At first it surprised Lio how perceptive Galo can be of others around him. On more than one occasion he has seen him enter a room full of people and switch his behaviour on a dime to match the mood therein. If the crowd is cheerful, he will match it with his own good mood and when people are somber he will quiet down and try to bring them comfort. Yet, most people call him stupid or ignorant, hot headed, self absorbed and stubborn and they aren’t entirely wrong about that either. Galo can surely be a handful when he has one of those moods in which he doesn’t listen to reason properly, when he refuses to be open for discussion because he has already made up his mind about things. Sometimes his stubborn pride would get sorely in the way of properly communicating with Galo, as he had the bad habit of never admitting something was wrong with him. Sometimes it scared Lio a little, how much that stubborn pride reminded him of himself. He knows well enough that Galo is hurting too after everything that they have been through together, yet the brazen firefighter rarely shows any of it. Galo is always too determined to help everyone else to stop and listen to his own feelings and Lio, regretfully, knows that he can’t be an awful lot of help with that either, no matter how much he might want to. 

There was never room for feelings and never a good way to express them while he was still leader of the Burnish revolution, so he learned to keep a tight control over his emotions. That didn’t mean he wasn’t feeling much of anything, in fact he was feeling way too much most of the time and the only people who ever knew what he was going through were Meis and Gueira. They alone knew how hard things were for him and learned how to read the minute changes in his posture and expression when he was hit by one of his mood swings again. For Galo though, it was as if reading Lio’s moods came to him like instinct. Even when he never outwardly shows it when his mood swings happen, Galo always seems to be aware of it; lowering his voice or trying to calm himself down in order to minimise the strain his behaviour could be putting on Lio. He would make small gestures, silent but full of meaning, to try and ease his mind. Like making him a cup of coffee for him or cooking him some food that he knows Lio likes a lot. For perhaps the first time in his life, Lio feels safe with someone else than Meis and Gueira. He feels safe with Galo because he knows that come what may, he can trust him to have his back.

Galo had asked about the mood swings once and Lio had refused him an answer. He never asked again, respecting the boundaries that had been set before him without question. One day Lio will open up to him about it, he silently made him this promise in that moment but it was still too soon. 

Lio hates to admit to anyone, most of all to himself, that he is silently afraid that one day he might become too much for Galo. That one day the other will decide that he has been giving enough without ever getting anything in return. Which is why he realises he doesn’t have much of a choice anymore. He is going to confess to Galo about his feelings before the fear and worry will get the better of him and someone else might stand up to snatch him away. He can clearly see the desire in other people’s eyes when they are confronted with the force that is Galo Thymos. He can see the way in which their hungry gazes drink him in and in those moments he wishes he could still call on the Promare so that he could burn them all away, just so that he can keep Galo all to himself. 

He reaches for his phone and scrolls to the contacts for a moment, before settling on the one person who would probably know how to answer his question best. For just a brief moment, he is hesitant but then he resolutely presses the button to send his text into the digital aether. 

_ “Hey Aina. I know this is perhaps a strange question since I’ve known him for a while now but what would be Galo’s ultimately favourite pizza topping?” _

***

It was a day like any other, nothing out of the ordinary was going on at the FDPP station 3, at least, that is what it looked like on the outside. On the inside however, all hell was about to break loose. 

Galo has been fidgety all day, constantly checking the clock and his phone in quick succession. It is painstakingly clear that he is expecting something to happen, waiting for something and it is starting to frustrate the everloving daylight out of Lio. Rationally, he knows well enough that it’s probably something incredibly stupid but it still irks him. A tiny, nagging voice in the back of his head reminding him that maybe it is something less innocent. What if he has a  _ date _ ? Shaking his head, Lio tries to discard the thought and buries himself in his paperwork again but it won’t stop mulling through his head. Has he waited too long, even though today is supposed to be the day he asks Galo out? Lio casts another sidelong glance at Galo, who is again checking his phone and suddenly starts blushing. It feels like his entire soul just froze over. Galo is reading a message on his phone, rosy blush on his cheeks, before quickly typing a reply and darting out of the common room. He has waited too long, it is too late. Galo has found someone else, he knows it for sure now and he fights to stop the tears that he can feel pricking in the corners of his eyes. He can feel his mood slipping, emotions running rampant in his chest and threatening to overwhelm him completely. He can’t have this, not here, not now. With a ding his phone chimes and Lio grabs it quickly, clinging onto it like a lifeline as he reads the text that he just received. It’s a message from Aina, telling him that his little surprise is ready and that he hid it by the loading bay doors. For a moment he sits by his little desk, frozen in indecision. Then, with a resolute shove of his chair, Lio gets to his feet and marches towards the loading bay. Even if it is the last thing he will ever do, even if he has to face the fact that Galo has found someone else, he will do this, he has to see it through. 

***

Lio is even more curt than normal and he has closed himself off in his little corner, working hard on paperwork that will help with the Burnish integration back into society. At one point Lio had tried to explain it all to him but Galo’s head had started spinning with all the legal jargon and he ended up not retaining much of all that information. Galo has such respect for the other man, the way in which he works himself to the bone day and night for his people and so, he decided to try his best to stay out of his way for now. Though, truth to be told, that was proving to be very difficult today. This was, after all, the day he is going to confess his love to Lio and he can’t stop the nervous energy that is continuously rushing through him. He checks the clock and then his phone, only to turn back to them again after barely a minute has passed. Lio’s former generals promised that they would bring over his little surprise for Lio around lunch but time is crawling forward so unbearably slow and he feels like he is about to burst out of his own skin! At last, the text comes and he can’t help but blush when he reads it.    


_ “we hid your little surprise by the loading bay doors. Go get ‘em loverboy!” _

He immediately springs to his feet and rushes towards the loading bay to retrieve his surprise, trying to repress his worries. Honestly, he is terrified that Lio won’t answer his feelings, that he really did read this all wrong but he has to try! He will give this his all, pour all his energy and feelings into asking Lio out!

***

By the time Lio has made his way to the loading bay to pick up the thing that was meant to win Galo over for him, he is surprised to see the other is already there, all alone. Galo is fidgeting with something that is clearly big but not heavy and for a split moment he isn't sure what to do. Then he walks closer to the doors, searching for the box that Aina said she has hidden there. Soon he spots the flat, square cardboard container and he quickly picks it up before Galo can notice him. Behind him he can hear Galo rummage around but suddenly, everything goes deathly quiet. 

'L-Lio? What are you doing here?' Galo's voice is clearly very nervous and for a split second Lio considers to just run for it and forget about this stupid plan he had been trying to set up. 

‘Is everything ok Lio? You aren't hurt, are you?’ He could now hear more worry than nervousness in the voice he has come to hold so dear and so he turns around at last, still holding the cardboard pizza box in his hand. He doesn't want to have to face Galo right now, he feels terrified about losing the tight control he has over his own expression. He doesn't want to show how his emotions are raging inside of him. 

That's when he sees it. Galo is holding an identical square cardboard box in his hands and in that box is a heart shaped pizza. A heart shaped pizza with Lio's favourite toppings on it and with slices of Jalapeno pepper spelling out the words "will you go out with me?".

For a moment they just look at each other, both blushing profusely and neither knowing exactly what to say, hearts beating in throats with nervous excitement. Then Lio raises his own box and he sees realization dawn on Galo's face as he opens the lid, revealing an identical heart shaped pizza but with Galo's favourite toppings on it (and without the  _ spicy _ pickup line). 

They look at each other, blushes bright and radiant on both their faces and neither one of them exactly sure what to do for a few moments. Then, Galo takes a big step closer to Lio and holds the pizza out in front of him, grinning from ear to ear and still blushing profusely.  'It seems we both were ready to give our heart to the other, isn't it?'

Lio hesitates, still partially unable to process what on earth just happened and remains silent. 

Galo's bright smile falters when he doesn't get an answer and a sudden thought punches him in the gut.  _ Maybe it wasn't meant for him at all. _ ‘I..sorry did I jump to conclusions? I didn't mean to assume of course but I thought, since we did the same thing we..we,’ he fights the tears he felt pricking in the corners of his eyes, he has already made enough of a fool out of himself with this and he really doesn't want to add crying to that list. 

Finally, Lio gets himself to move. The sight of distress on Galo's face and the sound of it in his voice finally snapping him back into the here and now. Without thinking for a single second longer he drops the pizza box on the floor with a thud and closes the distance between them completely. His voice is soft and Lio hates how much his words are shaking, but they are the truth and he  _ has  _ to say it. It's now or never! 

'Galo. This heart was never meant for anyone else but you.  _ My heart  _ has never been for anyone else but you...if you will have it.' 

It takes approximately 0.3 seconds before the pizza box in Galo's hands has also made it to the floor and his strong arms have wrapped themselves around Lio's smaller frame. His usually so loud and imposing voice suddenly so very soft, almost fragile and filled with emotions.

'I want no one else to have my heart but you, Lio. I love you so, so much.' Galo isn’t looking at Lio right now, having instead chosen to bury his blushing face in his mop of fluffy hair.

For a moment they just stand there like that, in the middle of the loading bay, breathing in each other’s presence like it is the one thing that will keep them alive. Lio’s soft voice is the one that ends up breaking the silence and he turns his head a little so that they can look each other in the eye while he speaks. 

‘Hey..Galo?’

‘hmm yeah, firebug?’

‘Can I kiss you?’

‘Heh, I thought you’d never ask’ 

***

By the time they made it back to the common room of station 3 the two pizzas had gone lukewarm but they still sat around the large table with the entire team, sharing the slices between each other happily. Lio was seated in Galo’s lap as if he had never done otherwise, a strong arm wrapped around his waist to keep him grounded there. Everyone was laughing at how strangely fortunate this entire chain of events has been, while Aina, Gueira and Meis exchanged knowing glances at each other from across the table as they quietly ate their pizza slices. 

********

_ message to: GM Doubleteam  _

_ message to: Firecracker _

_ Hey you two, can I ask a quick question?  _

_ Sure Aina, go ahead (M) _

_ yeah sure, what’s up? (G) _

_ I know Lio can sometimes be somewhat odd _

_ but he just asked me about Galo’s favourite  _

_ pizza toppings. Somehow that doesn’t seem _

_ entirely in character for him? _

_ Oooooohhh is this going where I  _

_ think it might be going?? (G) _

_ I don’t know, you tell me? I figured that by now _

_ he would know Galo’s preferences… _

_ Fun fact, The Idiot just asked us the  _

_ same thing, but then concerning Lio (M) _

_ Hey! no name calling like that. _

_ He is, though (G) _

_ Sigh, I suppose you are sort of right about that. _

_ Regardless! Galo asked you guys about Lio? _

_ Yep, he sure did! He wanted to know the _

_ Boss’s favourite toppings too. -wink wink, _

_ nudge nudge- (G) _

_ Why do I have this feeling that them being _

_ mind melded for a while might have lead  _

_ them to getting the same idea at the same _

_ time? (M) _

_ No way! You don’t think they...0///0  _

_ To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised? (G) _

_ It’s definitely a Thymos way of proposing. _

_ Not even you can deny that Aina (M) _

_ That’s why it surprised me so much! _

_ You two really think they are both planning _

_ to ask the other out like this??! _

_ It would be about damn time! They keep  _

_ fawning over each other like no one else _

_ exists in their world (G) _

_ Hm, maybe we could have a bit of fun with this (M) _

_ Do I even want to know?  _

_ Of course you do! Now hear me out on this. _

_ What if we could get them to ask the other _

_ out at the same time? (M) _

_ OH GOD YES. That would be hilarious! (G) _

_ Oh good grief what have I gotten myself _

_ into with you two, honestly.  _

_ You know you like the idea Aina, no need to _

_ hide it. (G) _

_ I hate you two.  _

_ It does sound really funny though... _

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this silly little idea I had!  
> If you fancy a chat, come find me on my twitter: https://twitter.com/MoltenRainbow  
> I've got lots of Promare and other fandom stuff going on there, as well as some original work :D


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